Ring binder construction



Sept. 28, 1943.

J. SCHADE RING BINDER CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 3, 1942 INVEN TOR ub/w50/412:

Patented Sept. 28, 1943 ""RING BINDER CONSTRUCTION v John schaa,Holyoke, Mass, assignor to National Blank Book Company, H01y0ke, Mass. acor; f H

poration of Massachusetts (Application December 3, 1942, Serial No.467,674 ZOlaims. (01.129-24) Referring to the drawin Fig. 1 is an openplan view of a finished ring binder;

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the casing strip used for holding the rings;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 5;

and

Fig. 6 is'a detail View of the ring halves of ring removed from itscasing strip.

The general purpose of the improvement is to provide a simple structure,to be made at lowjcost and adapted for using various materials, asmetal, wood, and plastic.

The finished binder shown in Fig. 1 consists in covers I and 2, hingedto back panel 3, the casing strip 4 riveted at 5 tothe back panel 3, andthe rings 6. r

These rings 6 are each constructed to operate generally like those, forexample, in Patent 901,076 of 1908 or in Patent 1,365,363 of 1921.Considering the two ring halves of Fig. 6: their respective ends aremade hook-shaped incomplementary fashion, as at 1 and 8, see Fig. 1.This provides a kerf joint. When the other ends 9 and ID of the ringhalves are suitably held, the ring as a whole can be closed and openedas such rings are in the prior art. For example, if ends one 9 and II]were suitably tied together by a hinge pin joint, the jointed ring wouldoperate as shown in Patent 901,076 or Patent 1,365,363. Such operationinvolves the two ring halves being mounted in slightly offset planes; aslight strain will brin them together when desired, for joining the endsas at 1 and 8. The operator readily snaps the ends together, as seen inFig. 1, and then, when released, the ring halves will strain towardtheir normal ofisetposition and keep the ends buttoned up until they aremanipulated for release and opening. This operation is explained in moredetail in said Patent 1,365,363, and is per so well known in the binderring art. That is to say, the type of ring and the way to manipulate itare old.

The new feature of my disclosure is in the combination of this type ofring with a ring holding strip, all arranged for a particularly simple,quick, and inexpensive assembly. I will now explain this.

Fig. 5 is like Fig. 2 but with the, rings in placef I form the ringhalves, each with an offset portion, 9 for one and ID for the other, oneextending oppositely to the other, see Fig. 6. Thus, when the halves arebrought together the offset portions extend toopposite sides of thegeneral plane of the ring, see Fig. 5.

These offset portions are carefully positioned so that this result isattained. One lies in groove 20 with its ring half in plane indicated byline 2|. The other lies in groove 26 with its ring half in planeindicated by line 22. When the ring halves are brought together forlocking, there is a slight twist, just enough to bring planes 2i and 22together for the ring halves to lock in the same plane.

It will be seen that the ring holding strip 4 is extremely simple; itneed be but a strip of wood cut to length and grooved, all of which canbe done on an automatic wood working machine. Or the strip may be moldedfrom plastic material.

The ring halves can be bent up out of metal and, of course, metal issuitable for the material of the ring halves. The structure of this kindof ring, 1. e., the'one which snap locks as described, is particularlywell adapted to be made of plastic. When the rings are made of plasticthe whole binder may be made without metal, even rivets of metal can beavoided.

To assemble my structure the ring halves are very easily placed inposition, as indicated in Fig. 5. The ofiset 9 fits in groove 20 andoffset 16 fits in groove 20. The ring portions 6 fit in transversegrooves 30. Theparts are positioned by merely placing them in thegrooves, then covering the grooves with back panel 3, and riveting atpoints 5. Of course, the material of the rings should crowd into thegrooves to give a good but not too tight a, fit. That is to say, thering halves need to be loose enough to move. I have indicated in Fig. 5a ring and groove fit adapted to maintain a crowding contact at point32. With the back portion 3 covering this point and the materialarranged substantially as shown, the parts will work well. It is quitepossible to hold each ring half separate from the other so far as theback mounting is concerned. This assembly is placed on the back panel 3and riveted in position. While two rings are shown, the structure isadapted to any desired number.

A characteristic of the structure is that very little strain is ever puton any part in the operation of the book. Thus, while the rings look bysnap action, very little spring is needed in the material to get theaction. The whole structure is adapted to be made of metal, wood, orplastic,

ends of complementary ring halves being pro-' vided with kerf joints,and a binder caseirwhosc back portion carries said holding strip.

2. A ring binder comprising a binder case, a

long solid piece forming a strip of generally flat- 15'- tened-out shapein transverse section with its bottom side curved to fit a curved backpanel of the binder case, said bottom side having a longitudinal grooveintersected by a plurality of transverse grooves, the latterintersecting the upper edge margins of the strip, ring halves, each oneof which is bent to lie partlyvin said longitudinal groove and partly ina transvers'e'groove and be held therein for turning to 'open and closetheir parts, the strip with the ring halves mounted therein beingmounted on the back panel of the -binder case and the under side of thegrooves being closed, all for the purpose described.

JOHN SCHADE.

